Lost History and a Bizarre Mystery: May, 1944–August, 1946

By George Melvin Frese

Author George Frese was captivated as a young child by the new technology of his dayradio. When he was sixteen, he and a friend developed a crude form of radar that could detect airplanes. In fact, he got in trouble with the United States government when he tried to send his discovery to the British to protect them from being bombed by the Germans early in World War II. He thinks that that exchange was not forgotten by the government and provides some insight into a strange situation that he encountered while serving in the army.

When George Frese joined the US Army following his graduation from college at the height of World War II, he kept encountering anomalies in the way he was treated. Once he finished advanced training, he was never assigned to any unit, and he never received any orders. He was always unattached and unassigned. Commanding officers consistently told him, Here is a job if youd like to volunteer for it, but I cant order you to do it.

Finally, he was sent to Europe, eventually making his way to Berlin after the war was over in Europe; there, he ran the long lines of communications that connected all of the allies across Europe. This marked the beginning of his adventures in post-war Germany.

Providing a description of many intriguing eventsdescribed here for the first timeLost History and a Bizarre Mystery shares one mans memorable army experiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475941449

George Melvin Frese

George Melvin Frese is a retired professional consulting engineer for broadcast radio and television from Wenatchee, Washington. After graduating from Washington State University with a BS in electrical engineering, he served in the United States Army during World War II. Upon being discharged from his military service, he began his career in broadcast engineering.

Book preview

LOSE HISTORY

AND A

BIZARRE MYSTERY

MAY, 1944-AIM, 1946

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

LOST HISTORY AND A BIZARRE MYSTERY

May, 1944-August, 1946

Copyright © 2012 by George Melvin Frese, PE.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Universe books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Bloomington, IN47403

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4143-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4309-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4144-9 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914035

iUniverse rev. date: 08/09/2012

Contents

Chapter 1 No Assignment

Chapter 2 My First Child

Chapter 3 War in Europe Ends Summer to Christmas 1945

Chapter 4 Fort Benning, Georgia, to Camp Shanks, New York Transportation Officer

Chapter 5 Camp Shanks to La Havre, France

Chapter 6 La Havre, France The Cultural Shock

Chapter 7 Marburg Staging Center

Chapter 8 Signal Corps Battalion Headquarters No. 3110 Wurzburg, Germany

Chapter 9 On to Berlin

Chapter 10 Settling in Berlin

Chapter 11 Working in Berlin In Charge of Communications

Chapter 12 Afternoon Tea

Chapter 13 Activity in the American Sector of Berlin

Chapter 14 Lost in the Russian Sector A Very Scary Story

Chapter 15 Berlin Black Market Another Scary Story

Chapter 16 Taking Pictures around Berlin

Chapter 17 Climbing the World’s Tallest Tower

Chapter 18 Suzette is Born

Chapter 19 New Replacements Arrive

Chapter 20 Amateur Radio

Chapter 21 Orders from Washington Military Personnel not Needed, May Go Home

Chapter 22 Risky Chance to Escape Out of Berlin

Chapter 23 Train Ride from Berlin to Frankfort and on to Bremen

Chapter 24 Finance Officer on the George Washington Going Home

Chapter 25 On the George Washington for New York Continuing on to Fort Lewis

Chapter 26 Fort Lewis Discharge Center Dishonorable Discharge or One to Two Years in the Brig

Epilogue The Mystery is Still a Mystery

Appendix A Military Records

Appendix B Map Used in Europe

Appendix C More Pictures

Lost History and a Bizarre Mystery

May 1944-August 1946

Prologue

The incentive for me in writing this story is to tell about some important events in history that occurred in Berlin, Germany, immediately following the Allies victory which ended World War II in Europe. These events were top secret at the time and were key events that helped shape our history. I believe that some of this history could be lost, if I do not properly record it in this writing.

The mystery to me was, and still is, how I found myself in the right place, at the right time, to observe these events and then be able to offer my skill and service exactly when they were needed. I have tried to review my life and trace the steps of my experience and training that led me to be right where my help was needed. In the Epilog, I will retrace the earliest events in my life that made this story possible.

Chapter 1

No Assignment

The history in this book occurred immediately after World War II. It was a time of great turmoil between Russia and the United States, France, and England. After the war, the Allied Forces could not agree on what to do with Berlin. The tension between the US President, Harry Truman, and the Russian leader, Joseph Stalin, was so great that all communications between the two governments were top secret. Consequently, none of these happenings were ever in the news. My hope is that this book will help fill in some of these gaps in history.

The mystery will become apparent as the story unfolds. I became aware that I was someone totally out of the ordinary at the time I was drafted into the Army in May 1944. The war was going very badly for the United States and we were losing more men than could be replaced by the draft. All draftees were assigned to the Infantry with no exceptions. Out of the 2,000 men I was drafted with, I was the only one given a different assignment. I was sent to the Signal Corps at Camp Crowder, Missouri, for Basic Training. It was not unnoticed by all the other draftees, for when my assignment was announced, a huge boo went up in the crowd and there were shouts of Congressman’s son. I wondered why I wasn’t sent to the infantry like everyone else.

Immediately I was given Corporal stripes as a non-commissioned officer. All of the other men in Basic Training with me were Buck Privates. Why I was made a Corporal as soon as I arrived at Basic Training was a mystery to me.

missing image file

Corporal George Frese at Basic Training

Upon graduation from Basic Training, all of the privates were assigned to units, but I was assigned to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. At OCS, we were given an orange arm band to put on our left sleeve. This band meant we were all to be called Mister and all treated the same. Up to this point I was still within the military system of law, and I did just as I was told.

OCS was tough. We would get up at four o’clock in the morning and go for a two hour run. It was winter, so it was cold out at 4 am. Then we would have breakfast, followed by our classes, with a half hour for lunch and a half hour for dinner. We continued classes until 10:30 pm. Lights were out at 12:00 pm. So, we were getting about four hours of sleep each night. Our classroom training went on for three months. Then we had a month of training working and sleeping in the field. At OCS, if you received ten demerits, you were kicked